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Daley defies injury to finish sixth in Barcelona

28 July 2013

Olympic bronze medallist Tom Daley dived through the pain of a torn tricep to finish sixth in the 10m Platform final at the 2013 World Championships in Barcelona.

Despite discovering the extent of his injury in a scan yesterday, the British diver put in a competitive performance in Spain, sitting in the podium positions after the third and fourth rounds before eventually slipping to sixth on 470.60.

"I really wanted to compete. I would’ve competed even if my arm was falling off," - Tom DaleyAt times, the 19-year old Plymouth diver was performing at his imperious best, top-scoring in his list with 99 for his back 3 ½ somersaults piked before picking up 88.8 for his most difficult dive – his forward 4 ½ somersaults with tuck.

But with China’s Qiu Bo pulling away to eventually defend his title on 581.00 and USA’s Olympic champion David Boudia comfortably taking silver on 517.40, Daley slipped off the pace in the final two rounds.

And the Brit admitted to beat his prelim and semi-final scores and secure a spot on next year's World Series was the best he could hope for under the circumstances.

"To compete in the final and finish sixth qualifies me for the World Series which is nice but I found out yesterday after a scan that I’ve torn my tricep again," said Daley, who missed last month's European Championships after failing to recover from an elbow injury which has interrupted his training this year.

"So today and yesterday I’ve been diving with a torn tricep not knowing whether it was going to make it worse or better.

"I’ve also had a local anaesthetic in there today so I’ve been diving with a numb arm which is a bit of a weird sensation. I can’t straighten my arm properly which makes entry to the water really difficult.

"But I really wanted to compete. I would’ve competed even if my arm was falling off."

Germany's Sascha Klein ultimately took bronze on 508.55.

And while Daley finished nearly 38 points off the pace on the day, the Brit admitted it was frustrating to have not been at 100 per cent for such a low-scoring World Championship final, having won World Series gold in Edinburgh on 542.15 earlier in the season.

"The scores were low and that could've been an opportunity for me to get up there again," - Tom Daley"It’s frustrating knowing that it was only 517 points to get a silver medal – the scores were low today and that could’ve been an opportunity for me to get up there again," said Daley.

"It’s one of those things though. When you’ve got an injury you can only do the best you can do with that.

"I’m a long way off my best. My best performance this year is 542 so it’s a little bit frustrating but I'll go away from here and try and get my tricep rehab properly done.

"I’ve torn it two or three times now so it’s about time I had a little bit of luck. This year has just been one thing after another."